Posted June 18, 2019 by Kyle Symons Uncategorized

Overton nips Eckert at line to score emotional USA 100 victory at VMS

JAMAICA, Va. – Brandon Overton of Evans, Ga., scored an emotional victory not even a week after the tragic passing of crew member Billy Vacek by winning the $20,000 USA 100 at Virginia Motor Speedway. Overton scored the victory in a photo finish over Rick Eckert of York, Pa., who came on strong at the end of the event and nearly pulled off the victory with a good run coming through turns three and four that saw Eckert dive underneath Overton, but Overton was able to beat him back to the line in his Rum Runner Racing No. 2 machine.

The victory was an emotional one for the entire Rum Runner Racing team as crew member Billy Vacek, who was the stepson of the late Huey Wilcoxen who passed away of a heart attack leaving Potomac Speedway several years ago. MastersBilt by Huey was a big deal in the Mid-Atlantic area and Billy was a big part of that business. Vacek tragically lost his life last week when a camper he was staying in near the property where the Rum Runner Racing car was housed caught fire and he was trapped inside.

Ross Bailes of Clover, S.C., set fast time and also won the first heat race to earn the pole starting position for the feature. Other heat races were won by Michael Brown, Chris Ferguson, who arrived late after having two flat tires on the trailer on the way to the event, and Daulton Wilson.

No consolation event was held as Virginia Motor Speedway decided to start all 30 cars who entered the event. At the drop of the green flag Michael Brown jumped out into the early lead, but the lead wouldn’t last long as Bailes worked his way into the lead. The lead for Bailes also wouldn’t last long as Overton was on a mission working his way to the front of the field from his fifth starting position. After Overton took the lead he set sail for a while, but through the middle stages of the event Bailes would work his way back to Overton to challenge him for the lead on a few occasions.

Tenth starting Eckert was biding him time in the third position, but in the late stages worked his way past Bailes into second and began to challenge Overton for the lead. A lap 54 restart in the 60-lap affair set the stage for a great finish. On the final lap, Eckert worked his way under Overton coming off of turn two and then coming off of turn four pulled even and inched ahead of Overton down the straightaway. The run that Overton received off the high side of turn four was too much though and Overton nipped Eckert at the line in an extremely close finish.

Feature Finish